Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Considering I was a pretty big fan of the GameBoy back when it still could be considered a "current" machine, it surprises me how many of its more curious releases flew under my radar.

Pitman (aka Catrap) was one, until recently. Painter Momopie was another--as were Noobow and Hoi Hoi (Stop That Roach! in the States) and a whole slew of others.

It makes a good bit of sense that most of the above-mentioned titles avoided catching my attention, of course, as they either were Japan-only affairs or were given such low-key releases in North America that they likely avoided catching the attention of the majority of this continent's GameBoy owners, too.

How on earth, though, did I fail to become aware of Cave Noire until sometime last year, when I read about it on Kimimi's now-defunct blog? (Thankfully, she still can be found over on shinjuforest.blogspot.co.uk--occasionally.)

I mean, it was made and published by Konami, for crying out loud. Granted, the Konami logo doesn't mean a whole lot these days--unless you're a really big Metal Gear or football (soccer) fan--but back in the early 1990s, which is when Cave Noire hit Japanese store shelves, it meant quite a bit to folks who had any interest at all in the hobby known as gaming.

Whatever the reason, I was completely unaware of this portable roguelike until recently, as I just finished saying. As for why that's a shame: well, for starters, its packaging is really awesome--as the photos included above and below should make clear.

Cave Noire's manual is pretty great, too. Unfortunately, I was too lazy to snap more than a single photo (below) of it for this post. (Don't worry, I'm going to devote a "Manual Stimulation" write-up to this sucker soon.)

The real star of the Cave Noire show, though, is its gameplay (check out some video of it here), which is refreshingly unique even today--23 years after it was first released. In fact, I don't think I've ever encountered a roguelike that plays like this one does, as it basically consists of bite-sized chunks of roguelike goodness.

Just like pretty much every example of this niche genre in existence, Cave Noire focuses its attention on the crawling and conquering of dungeons. (I believe the ones here aren't completely randomly generated, as is the case in most roguelikes, although I may be wrong.) Where this portable offering differs from its genre counterparts, though, is that it's broken up into four different dungeons. Two of them task players with collecting various amounts of gold or orbs, one forces them to kill a certain number of enemies and another involves freeing caged fairies. Accomplish the task at hand and you're allowed to exit--after which you're given the choice of diving back in or heading to one of the three other dungeons that are at your disposal.

Most treks take just a few minutes--as in, five or 10--by the way, which makes Cave Noire feel a lot less tedious than some roguelikes I've played. Plus, it's perfect if you have the attention span of a mayfly, as I seem to these days.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure Cave Noire is M.I.A. on all of the 3DS' regional eShops, so the only way to experience it at this point is to track down an actual cart (which shouldn't set you back too much dough) or download the ROM and then play it using your favorite emulator. Whichever option you choose, though, you shouldn't walk away disappointed.

Very cool!! I've heard of this game before but kind of forgot about it! It looks totally up my alley! I love fantasy dungeon exploring! ^^ Again for fun I tried my hand at translating the story page since you had such a nice shot of it! :D (Forgive me basic skills! lol)

Story:You have finally ended up at the northern village of Karuus (Caruise? Caluez? Kaloose?). It is said that around Karuus village are 4 dungeons, and many aspiring adventurers challenge these dungeons day and night in order to level up their skills. An elder at the Adventurer’s Association called “a guild” told you, “If you want to become a full-fledged adventurer, you must go into the dungeons and train. It looks like you have basic equipment, but that isn’t enough to complete quests. You should go to the Lord of the Forest and receive items. When you enter the dungeon, no one will be there to save you. Be on your guard.”

Please try your best and awaken as a true adventurer. I pray fortune smiles on you.

Wait a second, Kaze--you found that page? I've been looking all over for the old Kimimi's blog post in which she translates this manual, but I've yet to find it. Would it be possible for you to send me the link?

About this blog

Yep, I'm gay. And I like video games. Old Japanese games and systems are my favorites--the Famicom, PC Engine, original PlayStation and GameBoy, especially--but I like plenty of newer ones, too. If you have similar interests and you don't mind perusing a blog that's got the word gay in its name and is practically slathered in pink, you'll probably enjoy your time here. I'm also on Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter, by the way. Oh, and my Switch Friend Code = SW-5852-5514-6897.